It’s a Scary VUCA WorlD Right, Now But We’re In It Together
It’s not a new term and yet it seems more relevant than ever today. The acronym stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous and it’s the framework in which business leaders and society now have to operate.
It originated in the military in the 90s but I first heard at a management conference in Singapore in 2012. I’d love to talk more about the appropriateness of military expressions and lexicon in business but that is a topic for another article.
It’s been a rough ride over the years but we are now facing something new; while there have been pandemics before, COVID-19 appears to be a scale we’ve not seen in modern times. The impact on the economy is already measurable but we don’t yet know the human impact. I’m not talking about the mortality rate or the strain on the healthcare system which are already grave concerns and widely reported. I’m talking about the impact on individuals, smaller businesses and the wider eco-system. It’s the first time since we accelerated through the industrial revolution that the world has been asked to press pause. And we don’t know how long for. If that’s not VUCA then I don’t know what is.
What is certain is that things won’t be the same afterwards. Some businesses will close, those that don’t will learn new ways of working, which hopefully will not only improve quality of life for employees but also be better for the environment. Any organisation that’s been struggling with the adoption Microsoft Teams - now’s the time! I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be flippant but we do need to consider what good can come from this. It’s important to look at taking the right decisions now, while seeing opportunities for how a different and better future could look.
According to the UN this is the first time the course of a pandemic can be controlled by people and countries. It’s going to take real leadership. Beyond delivering shareholder value decisions need to be taken that are right for people and the planet first. That’s a change I think the world needs. I’d say that’s real leadership.
We have to remember too that we are all leaders in our own lives and - as the UN has stated - this is literally in our hands. So while it’s a time for hand washing and social isolation, it is also a time for supporting one another and not giving into fear. Sadly the world is going to continue to be volatile and uncertain and we’re going to have to learn to manage the complexity and ambiguity that comes with that. If this shows us anything it’s how interconnected we all are and that we’re all in this together.